clouds of life
by trinity-frost
Summary: tenchi lives a busy life, after a certain pirate was presumed dead, he married ayeka due to certain factors. now years later he finds himself in an endless cycle of ....nothing. needing to get away from the palace he starts to travel..now it starts. now h
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own it. 

a/n: this is three years after the ending of universe series, Tokyo didn't happen. I don't accept that series, and to everyone in the Tenchi cast….. Ryoko died after she dropped off Tenchi. Now, I never actually saw the whole series but I saw a few, and read every single Tenchi and Ryoko fic, and own all the movies so I'm basing them off that. Also, I forgot Ayeka's dad's name so, its not mentioned. Trust me this is a RyokoXtenchi, but its just a little hard to see at first.

 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1Tenchi walked the corridors of the palace, the face of a leader. The mask well made, he looked content, but felt nothing but a sad emptiness. Lightly, arms wrapped around him, he moved to hold her too, the look in her eyes of love and adoration. His eyes a mirror image of hers, but it was nothing but a mirror. Ayeka rested her head against her husbands and he held her tightly.

"Tenchi, are you going to the meeting in the Iviad galaxy?" He sighed, looked at her pleadingly, he loved Ayeka he did. Not the way she wanted him to love her, but he pretended for her. He loved her like a friend; his bound to her was that of a lover. 

"Ayeka, my princess, I do not do anything at those things. You are the brains behind everything, I think its time people stopped thinking that I was the one with all the plans." he told her. She lit up, really, she's made for this kind of thing anyway, he thought as she smiled at him.

"Tenchi, do you really think it is wise?" she asked.

"Yes, Ayeka the people love you, you're respected among the nations. They would honor you, go hog the spotlight princess." he told her, the nickname something that kept her on a certain level, out of his heart. She sealed him in a kiss; he kissed her back and then broke it away with a sigh. She smiled thinking it was because of her.

"Thank you Tenchi dear." he smiled at her and they started walking towards their quarters.

"Ayeka? Do you think I might go visit grandpa on earth while your gone? I haven't seen him in ages. And father, he, I've missed." he told her as they walked. Ayeka agreed that he should, they talked some more as they changed and got into bed. Ayeka cuddled up to him has he drifted off to sleep. Tenchi's eyes were closed but his mind wasn't. He put a hand on Ayeka's hand that rested on his chest. Another reminder that this was just comforting, nothing else was felt through his side.

               The mistake was taking up her offer, those three years ago. Washu had found out that he was bonded with Tsunami, so he had her blood and therefore would live as long as tsunami lived. This was forever, once the Jurian council heard of this they thought that it would justify that he should rule Juria. Of course he objected but everyone was counting on him, and there wasn't anything left for him on earth after..... so he agreed. Now he lived with her, married and seemingly happy. Going to meetings and parties and greeting the nobles, and living in the palace with fancy robes. Tenchi did not care that much, a side of him died a long time ago and he didn't think of it. Nobody mentioned it because it only brought sadness to the king, king Tenchi what a joke, he thought to himself. 

 When Tenchi boarded the ship he was greeted by the pilot and its crew, saluting they went back to work. Tenchi walked around the ship as they made their way to earth. Stopping in front of a window he thought back to another time. _We could leave, just the two of us Tenchi._ Blinking he backed away from the window, frowning he turned and walked the other way. Tenchi hadn't gone home in a long time, the last time he did was when Washu was tying the not with Yosho. He and Ayeka had both gone to the wedding on earth. That was a little over two years ago, Washu was destroyed over the disappearance of her daughter and Yosho pulled her back together, and out of the lab, she had gone crazy trying to find her. Working nonstop, trying to locate her or the cabbit. Dropping the mask he wore and comforting her, they fell in love. 

  


 Tenchi reached earth a good twenty-five hours later and when he did, Washu and Yosho was waiting for her, his father was beside them. Washu had permanently changed to her adult form and Yosho to his younger form. Noboyuki was only slightly older now; they waved as Tenchi walked nearer.

"Son! How is everything?" his father yelled above the ship that was departing. 

"Hey! Tenchi its good to see you."

"Tenchi how is the wife?" Yosho asked, as Tenchi finally reached them. 

"I'm fine, Ayeka is doing great. Everything is going well." he told them as they exchanged hugs and hellos'.

"What brings you here?" his father asked, as they went inside.

"I just missed Earth and you guys." he told them. Yosho went to make tea as the rest of them sat down. 

Washu was smiling happily, as she fixed something on her computer. 

"Working again Washu?" Tenchi asked as he Noboyuki prepared a game of chess to play. He and his father had gotten closer after everything that happened to Tenchi, he needed something to lean on after the Kagato incident and his father was the first to approach him about the subject that nobody got. Ryoko. Now Tenchi never spoke of her, she had died, left him. Like his mother had, and he didn't understand why. Tenchi tried to keep a good face up but his father saw through it, after all his father had known him since he was born.

"Yes, I'm trying to see about making another pair of gems, for Funaho." she told him as she excepted the tea from her husband. 

"Why? I have mine on Tenchi-ken, right?" he asked her.

"Well, technically yes, and no." she told him before typing something else as data.

"Washu what are you talking about?" he asked her patiently. 

"After the incident...the gems started changing. They started separating the energy. The power stopped flowing into funaho in moderations, soon they will cease to give life into Funaho completely and when that happens I need to have something ready to replace the gems so funaho lives on." she explained. Tenchi thought on this, what does this mean? Does it have anything to do with Ryoko?

"Washu why are the gems changing?" he asked her.

"I'm not sure I think that since she ...died, the gems' purpose was compromised and I believe they are trying to adapt to this change. I had made them to support Ryoko, but now with no host they are...without purpose and I suppose they are changing to the different host." She told him, pausing to sip some tea. 

"Who are they adapting to?" he asked after a second of registration. Washu rolled her eyes and pointed to Tenchi. 

"Why me?" he asked as he started the chess game. 

"They are on you aren't they?" she asked stupidly. 

"Tenchi-ken, but yeah basically." 

"So they are giving you the support they gave Ryoko." 

"Washu, why not Funaho?" 

"I don't know." 

"What?" he whispered. Washu doesn't know, again. This is the second time she doesn't know something, and it always has something to do with Ryoko. Tenchi didn't say much after that, bringing up Ryoko had shut him up effectively. He and his father played a nice long game of chess, Tenchi was thinking about the gems and Ryoko, Noboyuki was thinking about beating Tenchi. 

"Check mate, Tenchi!" he called triumphantly, Tenchi smiled good-naturedly and after they ate, Washus' cooking. 

         This wasn't as good as Sasami's, Sasami had asked her father for a chance to study cooking and Tenchi had made a bargain with the old king that he would only take the throne if Sasami got to do what she felt would make her happy; among other things. 

           She was studying at a school in Tokyo now, happier than ever. Everyone talked a bit more after dinner and said good night before retiring to their rooms. He went to his old room to sleep; no one changed any of the rooms in the house even though the occupants left. Tenchi sighed as he entered, noting that everything was as it had always been. He walked to his window, up his balcony, where a ladder resided conveniently for when he had to visit a certain pirate. Lying down on the roof of his room, he looked at the stars, recalling some memories of this very roof. Smiling, he closed his eyes. Sometime during the reminiscing, he fell asleep. 

~~~

A/n: let me know if you like it. Please review and tell me what you think. 


	2. Tenchi begins

Disclaimer: I own, not a thing. Buuuuuuuut, big but….hm anyway I do own the story and I'm sorry about the last rating, it was a mistake. Its rated R later,  because a lot of stuff happens okay and so therefore its R…later. now R & R and make me proud. ^ ^.

                     Kiyone + Mihoshi = America = very bad……poor Tenchi. 

 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1Tenchi woke up the next day to hear something he'd never thought he'd hear again; laughter, but from the voice of the dead. Resting his upper body on his elbows he pulled himself up a little, to find Ryoko laughing at him. Smiling she walked up to him from her position in the air, Tenchi thought she looked like some type of goddess, walking on air like that. The sky was blue with pink clouds, showing that the morning was just getting up from the moons' dominance.

"Good morning my Tenchi." she whispered into his ear, her body floating above him as her head leaned down to greet him. 

     Smiling, he closed his eyes at the sound, her voice so foreign to his ears after all this time. Falling back, he felt the air rush past him as the darkness of his eyes consumed his sight. Opening his eyes again he found himself somewhere else, from the floor everything looked like it was falling away from him. Sitting up Tenchi frowned and got up, walking around the field to see nothing but dirt and rocks. 

Tenchi walked past the field into the arena, lined up on both sides were statues. Large carved masterpieces of everyone he'd ever known and some he didn't. 

On one side were statues of monsters, demons, animals; the other side had people. Yosho as a young prince, in Jurian battle gear, Ayeka, Sasami, Mihoshi, himself, the very last statue had Ryoko on it, well Tenchi understood it to be, because all that was left was the name of her on the bottom, the statue itself was gone. These large, building size statues and this one had been smashed into pieces. 

Tenchi looked at the name as the ground shook, the statues coming to life, the people fighting the monsters. Tenchi screamed as a giant foot almost squashed him, diving he ran right into the claw of a monster. Seeing the sharp nail he tried to dodge, his back bleeding as he ran as far away as possible when something happened. It started to rain, the drops cascading like a waterfall, down onto all the warriors on the battlefield. Silently they all returned to their original positions on the stands. Only one statue remained, Ayeka; she smiled sadly as.........

"Aaaaaahhhhhh..." Tenchi sat up, eyes wide from fear. Looking around his heart pounded as he tried to make sense of what was going on. Shaking he ran a hand through his long hair and breathed deeply a few times. After Realizing that it was only a nightmare, he lay back down as he looked at the stars. What did that mean? He asked himself. Why do I have to analyze everything? He thought.

"Everyone has nightmares sometimes." he told himself as he started climbing back down to get into bed. Under the covers Tenchi forgot it as he drifted off to sleep, or tried. This is ....boring he thought as he rolled over again. Damn, I can't sleep at all tonight, he mused as he kicked off the covers. 

          The darkness in the room had started dimming with the new day. Tenchi stopped moving for a second and just breathed, smiling. This is the first time in three years I'm bored with nothing to do, with no council meetings, no publicity, no throne, no nothing....he thought as he looked at the space above his bed. 

  


           First things first, he told himself, visit Sasami, and Mihoshi and Kiyone, and then maybe I'll travel around or take a vacation; and tell Ayeka, he thought as he rose from his bed and wandered around his room. Ayeka will be.....not pleased, but it will only be when she's gone on those meetings. I'll tell her when I get back, he decided as he got changed. Washu was making breakfast as he set the table, chatting with her was Yosho. He was cutting some fruit, smiling she brought in the food when it was done. Noboyuki had left for the office before so it was just the three.

"Washu, where is Mihoshi and Kiyone now?" he asked as he ate the noodles. 

"Why, here of course!" 

"Here?" he asked, 

"On earth, yes they are here. They've been stationed down here since Yosho came back from the dead. Afraid that a race might not be pleased with Yosho's past, they are supposed to be our bodyguards but after a little bit of talking and my fake reports; they are on an extended vacation." she told him. 

"So what are they doing now?" he asked.

"Not much, they bounty hunt sometimes here on earth, and travel a bit but they usually just hang 

Around here or with Sasami." she explained as she cleared her plate. 

"Take your dish to the kitchen when your done I have work to do." she told him before slamming her door.

"She hasn't changed much." he commented.

"In some areas no but in others....." Yosho continued.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." he said as he washed his dish. 

"Hey grandpa. I think I'm going to go see Sasami, you wouldn't mind if I left here a bit early?"

"Yes, that would be best. She hasn't seen you seen the wedding and I think that the trip would do you good." he told Tenchi before disappearing outside. Great, as much as things change.....they still feel the same, he thought as he walked back to his room. 

            Tokyo was still as big and vast as ever, if not more crowded. Tenchi prayed to whatever gods controlled the trains to let him get into the streets without losing a limb. Taking a bus he went down into the university housing districts. Sasami was attending school at one the university here and so she got a room from housing. Crossing the sidewalk he walked up to the apartment building that she was staying at. Knocking on the door he waited for the pink haired chef to open it for him, balancing his duffle bag on one shoulder he smiled as she opened it. 

"Tenchi!!" she cried happily as she hugged him, Tenchi staggered back trying to maintain balance. Before they fell off the railing behind him she pulled him the opposite way, smiling and talking a mile a minute about school and cooking and Tenchi only caught a few words before giving up.

"So what brings you here?" 

"I got some time off and wanted to see how you were."

"Ayeka let you go huh?" 

"Yeah." 

"Yeah I bet, I remember I was needed for a meeting a few years ago, and all you did was agree with what she told you to agree with. At one point you fell asleep and I had to shake you." she said as she laughed at the memory.  Tenchi smiled sheepishly and when she left to get something from the kitchen he took the time to notice, her apartment and that she had grown, she was taller now and resembling tsunami more and more. 

"Hey, Tenchi so how is everything?" she asked when she came back with some soda for the two of them. Tenchi told her everything that was going on with Juria and how he told Ayeka that she should go to the meetings as a sign of strength on her part and on what he thought on that and then he told her about coming to earth. 

"Say, Sasami? Have you seen Kiyone or Mihoshi around I wanted to say hi to them." He told her. She grew silent for a while, her face taking on a worried look as she stood up.  

"I. I don't know" she told him as she walked back to the kitchen. Tenchi frowned, not knowing what to do; he missed his family more than ever now that they were gone. Mihoshi and Kiyone were a part of that family, he thought as he watched Sasami wash the glasses. 

"What do you mean Sasami?" he asked not sure how to respond.

"They left Tokyo last year and went to America" she told him as she gave him a postcard that she got from them, the only one she got in fact. It was a picture of the Seattle Mariners' stadium. Tenchi frowned as he studied the postcard, not knowing the place. It was a addressed to Sasami a long time ago. 

"I'm scared something happened to them Tenchi." She told him sadly. Tenchi was sad, this had made him sadder, here was Sasami, a sister to him and she was on the brink of tears because two other family members were missing, over a year. 

"I'll go look for them Sasami. I can get Washu to arrange it and……have you told Washu?" he asked suddenly. Sasami nodded her head. 

"I told her and she told me that she couldn't track them. None of her machines can track them. She can track anyone anywhere on earth and in the universe except on America. She doesn't know why but she's trying to figure it out." She explained to Tenchi. Sighing Tenchi decided he would go look for them. 

"I'm going back to Okinawa now. I need to talk to Washu; I'm going to go looking for them." He told her before they bid each other farewell. 

Okay then that's another chapter, hope you enjoy. Please understand I had to rewrite this a few times because I wasn't happy. But stay tuned, you never know when the next chapter may be coming up. : P  STOP!!!!!!!!!!! Look for yourself down there,v

To all reviewers, thanks so much.  (reviewers name) inside the ( )

(……..) Yes, well pretend they are if they aren't related okay. But thanks for telling me something I didn't look into, and thanks for the review. ^ ^ (AlucardsNolfQeen) thanks for the awesome review, I'm glad you like it so much, stick around.yeah I didn't like sakuya either. : P. ( crazy legs lacey ) well ,thanks so much for the review. Please enjoy. ; )

(getitcjc) thanks for the review and the gems won't make much sense until later but hope you stick around. ( little ryo-ohki) hey I'm glad your enjoying the story and to keep patient, okay. Thanks! (_ran_) hey thanks, hope you like it.( Vash the unholy)

glad you like the story thanks for reviewing and hope you enjoy the rest of it. 


	3. tenchi tries

 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1Disclaimer: I o u. but I don't own anything. :)  thanks for the reviews and for reading and I hope you enjoy ^ ^  R & R an make me proud. On with the fic, 

                         Tenchi will try

       Tenchi climbed up the steps to his home, things were getting complicated, he thought. When had my life become so alien to me, he thought bitterly, all he wanted now was things back to normal. He wouldn't mind the house blowing up; he wouldn't care if he saw logs floating anymore. When she died, he didn't allow himself to feel, to contemplate it, Tenchi focused on helping the others, pushing his own pain away from prying eyes and hearts. Tenchi stopped for a second as he looked around; he was climbing so slowly he was barely moving forward. 

         He heard the shuffle of his feet as they past the steps, his thoughts still thinking, opening and wondering for the first time in a long time. The fact was he shut down completely, a section of himself that had died when she hadn't come back. Tenchi knew it was wrong to do so, but frankly he didn't know how to react, so he pretended and made believe that he was strong; he needed for the others to not worry about him. Some noticed his change but thought it was his maturing and growing character instead of a steadfast broken and lost soul. He had become very alone inside, yet he was never so filled with the love that surrounded him. But that was just a small portion of him that was warmed; it was the part that was shut off forever, this he never thought he would feel. He made it to the house as he thought this, going inside he was greeted with a smile from the happily married couple, Tenchi relaxed and smiled with them, happy that they're happy. 

"Hi Tenchi! Back so soon?" Washu spoke with a light mirth in her voice; he nodded his head and sat down. Washu frowned at his sullen sudden change.

"Washu why can't you find Kiyone and Mihoshi?" he asked after a second of looking at her. Washu looked away, she should have guessed that Sasami would say something, Washu had noticed a tinge of sadness in Tenchi, he was still very much happy but somewhere in there, he was tossed across lighthearted and desolate. She didn't want him worrying over them, he was stressed out and he was changing....because of... she trailed of into thought until Tenchi repeated his question. 

"There is a electrical impulsive distorter shockwave pulse that is transmitted back into my computers' chips when I try to use it in the area that the united states is in, the whole area is that way." she explained briefly. Tenchi had his mouth in an oh and he asked with his eyes for her to continue. He understood that? She thought before she talked.

  


"The waves are triggered by sound and radar undulates that radiate from the satellites I use to track people and planets. Even after I switched satellites, they tracked down the chips' magnetic script and purged all and any data I tried to collect on the area. Its completely off limits, I don't understand why or who could use such large amounts of equipment or knowledge to do something so large. The worst part of this is that is only is meant to stop my signature pulses, it recognizes my scripts and patterns and isolates my computers from the rest, making it impossible to use against them, or to find them. I'm blind folded basically." she concluded after a while. Tenchi thought hard on this, why someone would do something so pointless, he thought. No one is at war, no one is an enemy to them, not that they know of. And so it doesn't make any sense to him, he would just have to let Washu figure it out. 

"I don't know what to tell you. Its not my place to agree or argue to anything you would show me. All I can do is try to find Kiyone and Mihoshi. I need your help though, I need to contact Ayeka and then I need information on America and on this place, and I need a ticket to this place." he told her, giving her the postcard and pointing to it. He also felt so sure of himself; despite what insecurities he should feel he felt none. Just this understanding of what was happening, and acceptance in it, and that he had to change it. This had also been happening to him lately, he was so sure and unsure of things and he knew what he felt he had to do, he acted on this and he had done a very good job so far....or he'd like to hope so.

"Tenchi you need a lot of things, are you sure you should be doing this? We don't know what's going on over there." she said seriously, Tenchi nodded his head. 

"Yes I know Washu, but this is my family and I'm not going to let them slip through my fingers. If I can help them or try to help them or if there's anything I can do, I'm not going to sit around and wait for a miracle. I'm going to try everything I can and only then will I be able to hold on to them. Because I didn't give up, and I didn't stop trying to help them." he told her, deep down inside she felt that this traveled back to Ryoko, maybe she was over thinking his first words but she just couldn't help but wonder what he thought on it. She didn't know if she should tell him everything she knew. 

"Alright Tenchi I'll do it. But I have to warn you, you're going in by yourself and I won't be able to help you until you get out of that area. I will give you enough money to survive a lifetime and then some. Just in case. I don't know if this is the best of plans...." she shook her head as she disappeared into her lab. Yosho stood at the doorway, his eyes hidden beneath his glasses and he looked very mysterious, then again, he always did. 

    Tenchi sighed, he sat down on the sofa and grabbed a piece from the chessboard, it was this queen, and she was white. _'Once upon a time, there was this prince, and he fell in love with this queen-to-be. Okay tench, now listen carefully, she was trapped. In a tower and he had to save her'..... O'ko, I like the pirate game, there's treasure in the pirate game! Is there treasure in this one?  'Yes Tenchi there is, do you want to know what it is?'  Yeah! Tell me O'ko, please?  'Okay, its love, it's the pirate. The queen is the pirate, and she was both queen and pirate.'  Oh, okay, so what do I have to do to play o'ko?............ 'Tenchi' 'Tenchi'...._

"Tenchi?" 

"Tenchi! Snap out of it!" and he did. The conversation settled in a space inside his head. He would think of it later. 

"What happened? Washu?" he asked as he turned back towards the closet door. 

"I have Ayeka on the line from the lab, come on down." she told him, holding the door open. He looked at it with reluctance, some part of him still not liking it, she forced it down as he turned from her, getting up and walking in.

The lab was dark and a navy blue tint surrounded everything to such a large extent.He shivered inwardly at the tubes and specimens he saw and proceeded to the screen that showed Ayeka. She was wearing a face of worry and confusion; Washu didn't say anything to her. He walked up to the large screen and heard Washu leave the room. 

"Tenchi? What happened? Is everything alright?" she asked after she noticed he wasn't speaking first. He smiled at her, it was a little sad.

"No, Kiyone and Mihoshi are missing, they disappeared in America and Washu can't find them, Ayeka, they are my family, I can't let this stay this way, I need to try to find them. I won't be going back to Jurai anytime soon." Ayeka tried to protest but every time he made his point clearer, she stayed silent for a few seconds, seemingly mulling over what she should tell him.

"Be safe my king, I love you." she told him, before he could return the words she had shut off the link. He frowned, he knew she never liked it when he went into situations lie this but it couldn't be helped. A year is a long time for them to be gone but he had to try. When he turned his back on the screen he was greeted by paper in his face. The ticket read Seattle and Washington, he turned his head to the side a little bit as she waved a credit card in her other hand. 

"Everything is done, Tenchi." she said, a little worry evident but she was still very much herself.

"Thank you Washu." he told her honestly. She smiled and watched as he left the lab; Yosho came out from the shadows, wrapping his arms protectively around her thin waist. He kissed the back of her hair and she giggled at the attention. 

"Washu-san do you think it is wise to not tell him about the gems? He is very different from the boy he once was, it might be better if you told him." he told her softly as they swayed to and fro. 

"Yosho, he is changing, I....think its best to let him do this without knowing it from the beginning is could endanger the way he is supposed to be alter in."

"But-"

"Trust me, Sho-san" she told him before pulling him into a quiet kiss. Tenchi meanwhile was packing his stuff, again. He had lay down on the mattress afterwards, looking up. He will not fail, he will do what he should, and he will try to find them. 

______________________------there it is, the third chapter

**review****~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

alighthawk: thanks for the review and the info, I don't know where okinawa came from but I remembered that name, and thanks about Jurai. And thanks for the review. And I'm very thankful...geez, its not even turkey day...  


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